FROM ADVANTAGE WEST:
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. announced today that they have chosen a site in Henderson County, N.C., for its East Coast manufacturing and distribution operation. The project brings 95 full-time and 80 part-time jobs, and more than $100 million investment to the AdvantageWest region. The following are statements released by AdvantageWest about this project. Please let us know if you would like to arrange interviews with the AdvantageWest President & CEO regarding the key role AdvantageWest played in bringing Sierra Nevada to Western North Carolina.

W. THOMAS “TOM” ALEXANDER, CHAIRMAN OF THE ADVANTAGEWEST BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
“We’re delighted that Sierra Nevada has chosen Western North Carolina for their East Coast manufacturing and distribution operation. I’m particularly proud of the key role AdvantageWest played in bringing them here. Our staff has worked diligently for almost a year on this project – ever since Matt Raker, AdvantageWest’s VP for Entrepreneurship & AdvantageGreen, learned about this opportunity while he was attending a renewable energy site-consultant conference in Tulsa, Okla.”

SCOTT T. HAMILTON, ADVANTAGEWEST PRESIDENT & CEO
“Upon learning of the opportunity, we worked closely with Sierra Nevada’s consultants, company officials and the 23 counties in our region to find sites that matched the requirements for this project. Originally 11 sites in five counties from across the AdvantageWest region were submitted. We served as the ‘go-to people’ for the company – essentially we were a one-stop shop for this project. As the company narrowed down their site search, AdvantageWest continued to work closely with Sierra Nevada, the Town of Mills River, Henderson County, and the N.C. Department of Commerce, doing everything we could to win this project for our region. We are thrilled that all this effort paid off in creating new jobs and taxable investment in the AdvantageWest region, and heartily welcome Sierra Nevada to Western North Carolina.”

ABOUT ADVANTAGEWEST
AdvantageWest is the regional economic development partnership serving the 23 westernmost counties of North Carolina, a geographic area of nearly 10,000 square miles – larger than eight other U.S. states and roughly the size of the state of Maryland. AdvantageWest’s program of work focuses on: advanced manufacturing; Blue Ridge Food Ventures, a food business and natural products incubator and commercial kitchen; entrepreneurial development, including the Certified Entrepreneurial Communities® program; the green-collar and clean-energy jobs initiative, AdvantageGreen; and the Western North Carolina Film Commission. Chartered by the state General Assembly in 1994, AdvantageWest is a nonprofit, public-private partnership, centrally located adjacent to the Asheville Regional Airport. For more information, visit www.advantagewest.com or call (828) 687-7234.